The spotlight will shine again on the Apodaca Duals at Northwest College this weekend. The 2011 version of the Trappers’ showcase event will feature three of the nation’s top 12 wrestling programs, four of the nation’s top-ranked wrestlers and a field where almost half the wrestlers are individually ranked.

Megan Smith dropped in 30 points while Valerie Lesu delivered a huge morale boost with her buzzer-beating shot from just inside the mid-court stripe to end the first half as Northwest College defeated Dawson by an 88-73 count on Friday night.

The victory lifts the Trappers to a 9-10 overall record. More important, it gives the Trappers a 2-1 sub-region record and leaves the school atop the North sub-region standings.

Through three quarters, Powell High School head boys’ basketball coach Mike Heny was happy with his team’s position. The Panthers weathered an early storm to grab a one-point lead late in the third quarter, only to watch Cody reel off 10 straight on the way to a 66-53 victory over the Panthers.

“We kind of ran into a buzzsaw,” Heny said after fifth-ranked Powell suffered its first loss in six 3A West conference games on Friday night. “It seemed they couldn’t miss, especially in the fourth quarter when they scored 25 points on us.The bucket must have looked as big as a hula hoop for them.”

The Northwest College Trappers exploded for 53 points in the first half of Tuesday’s women’s basketball contest at Sheridan College and returned home over the Big Horns with an 87-67 sub-region victory. The win improves Northwest to 8-10 overall and 1-1 in sub-region play.

“This was a good win for us,” said Trapper head coach Janis Beal. “The girls came out really ready to play from the beginning. We were able to get a good lead and any time you shoot 60 percent in the first half, that really helps.”

After a wild overtime win last Saturday, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team makes its first appearance of the season in the Wyopreps.com 3A basketball poll. The Panthers, who have garnered votes in previous polls, appear as the No. 5 team in this week’s rankings.

The Panthers received 11 fifth-place votes from a panel of 22 coaches and media personnel. Powell, 6-5 overall this season, but 5-0 in 3A West play, is the only member of the West conference to appear in the poll.

Numerous Panther competitors experienced success at the first indoor track meet of the season last weekend. The Powell students, competing as part of the Cody team, played a role in seven of the nine event championships recorded on the day.

Kyle Sullivan took the title in both the 60-meter hurdles and the high jump. Drew MaGill added a first-place finish in the long jump and led a 1-2-3 Powell parade at the top of the 200-meter standings.

Zane Bushnell converted a pair of late free throws to lift the Powell Panther boys’ basketball team into the lead on Saturday. From there, the team held on through a few nervous moments for a 51-50 overtime victory against Lander.

The win lifts Powell to 5-0 in 3A West conference play. The Panthers, who also recorded a 58-45 non-conference win against Rocky Mountain last week, sit alone atop the 3A West standings.

The Powell High School boys basketball team improved to 4-5 on the season and 4-0 in 3A West conference play with a pair of weekend victories. The Panthers defeated Mountain View by a 51-31 final count on Friday before handling Lyman 48-35 in Saturday action.

The wins, combined with action elsewhere in the 3A West division, leaves the Panthers as the sole undefeated team in the conference standings entering play this weekend.

The Yellowstone Quake scored a 6-1 victory over Bozeman to narrow the gap between themselves and a spot in the NORPAC hockey playoffs to two games. A 3-1 loss to Billings prevented the squad from shaving another game off that margin.

Alex Johansons’ power play goal 3:31 into the game gave the Quake an early advantage in its Saturday game against Bozeman. Hazen Ripple countered with a power play goal for the Ice Dogs just before the 12-minute mark, but the scoreboard remained tied for just 19 seconds before the Quake’s Tyler Torkelson delivered the go-ahead goal.